The God Breathed Word

2 Timothy 3:16 “The Word” preached July 27 2008 by Ron Smith

Every part of Scripture (pasa grapheh) is God-breathed (theopneustos) and useful one way or another – showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way.

God-breathed –  There is a common theme throughout the Bible about the breath of God.  Because we understand God as spirit, God reveals Himself in elements like clouds, pillars of fire, burning bushes, etc.  The Biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek both use words for air and wind (ruach and pnuema respectively) to represent the spirit.  So when we read aloud the word of God our very breath participates in God’s breath and the air we use to sound out God’s scripture is sanctified by His word.  This mysterious way in which God communicates in and through us makes it clear why we should memorize, pray and meditate in God’s word as part of the abundant life Jesus promises to give us in this life and the next.

Showing us truth –  Pontius Pilot asked Jesus “what is truth?”  And Jesus was the living truth staring him in the face.  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life: no one comes to the Father except by Him (John 14:6).  And Jesus showed the man who was about to order His death that He was born to testify to the truth and that everyone who belongs to the truth listens to His voice (John 18:37).

Exposing our rebellion –  Our rebellion to the truth is most apparent at the trial and passion of Jesus Christ.  The truth is that we may “know the truth” but not know it well enough to do it or to find the truth in ourselves or in others.  When I pray and reflect on what to preach in church, it needs to be in my heart and in my actions as well.  It is not enough to remember what Isaiah said about the promised Messiah.  I need to remember that that same Messiah (the chosen one of God) lives in me and greater is He that lives in me than He who lives in the world.

Correcting our mistakes –  John Wesley put Scripture as superior over reasoning, experience and tradition when we are trying to know God and find out how to correct our mistakes.  When we try to solve our mistakes in life without God’s word and wisdom, then we are essentially telling God with our actions that we are going to continue in our rebellious life style and that what we do is somehow “beyond good and evil” – outside of God’s reality like this child’s computer game by that title (also a title of a book by the professed atheist Friedrich Nietzsche):

Training us to live God’s way – Plenty of examples of God’s way of living (that is Christ-like in nature) can be found in the book of Proverbs:  Try reading just one chapter for each day of the month (There are 31 chapters in Proverbs).  Happiness makes you smile (Proverbs 15:13).  A kind answer soothes angry feelings (Proverbs 15:1).  A true friend will keep a secret (Proverbs 11:13).  You will say the wrong thing if you talk too much (Proverbs 10:19).  Don’t tell your neighbor to come back tomorrow, if you can help today (Proverbs 10:19).  Everyone likes to brag about getting a bargain (Proverbs 20:14).  Wise friends make you wise (Proverbs 13:20).  It’s better to be honest and poor than to be dishonest and rich (Proverbs 16:18).  Telling lies will get you in trouble (Proverbs 17:20).  Don’t give up (Proverbs 24:10).  Make your parents proud, especially your mother (Proverbs 23:25).  Watching what you say can save you a lot of trouble (Proverbs 21:23).  Respect and obey the Lord (Proverbs 9:10).  Don’t tell everything you know (Proverbs 12:23).  Go looking for trouble, and you will find it (Proverbs 11:27).  Teach your children right from wrong and when they are grown they will still do right (Proverbs 22:6).  Not getting what you want can make you feel sick (Proverbs 13:12).  The hungrier you are, the harder you work (16:26).  Don’t try to get even (Proverbs 20:22).  All wisdom comes from the Lord, and so do common sense and understanding (Proverbs 2:6).  It’s a dangerous thing to guarantee payment for someone’s debts (Proverbs 11:15).  Don’t say, “I didn’t know it!”  God can read your mind (Proverbs 24:12).  Don’t argue just to be arguing (Proverbs 3:30).  Obey the teaching of your parents (Proverbs 6:20).  Know where you are headed, and you will stay on solid ground (Proverbs 4:26).  Don’t ever think that you are wise enough (Proverbs 3:7).  Share your plans with the Lord, and you will succeed (16:3).

Dear Heavenly Father, the most important thing I need to know is that you loved me and everyone in this world so much that You sent your only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).  I believe in Your promise of everlasting life.  I believe in Your Word.  I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior – in His name, Amen.

Obedience to Christ

John 14 21 “Obedience to Christ” preached by Ron Smith
“The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that’s who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him.”
This Sunday’s topical verse is God’s promise of a special intimate loving relationship made up with individuals 1) who know His commandments, 2) who keep His commandments, 3) who are loved by our heavenly Father, 4) who are loved by God’s Son, and 5) to whom Christ continues to reveal Himself – that is “make Himself plain.”
1. Even cowboys can Know Christ’s commandments! The Old Testament’s 613 “halacha” or ways to behave (including the 10 Commandments) had become interpreted (but never completely obeyed) before Jesus arrived as the chosen Messiah. So God substituted His Son Jesus Christ to apply the law properly and thoroughly with His life, as the living Torah – the living Way to salvation and reconciliation with God’s law in spite of the rest of the human condition floundering in imperfection and sin.
Jesus fulfilled all the law and all the commandments by loving everyone. And He asks you and me to do the same. To share the love of Jesus obediently is not just a nice feeling. It means doing His will, which we find in his commandments (obediently loving everyone according to God’s law).
2. Keep Christ’s commandments! We have been created “in the image and likeness of God.” And we stand before God as His “you” capable of having a relationship with Him. “Bless the Lord O my soul” – means that God has made us so that we can bless God in return. You and I keep Christ’s commandments by loving God and others – by being God’s friend and by being a friend to others – by communicating with God and with others in loving ways.
3. Receive the Father’s love! Christ’s commandments are His way of showing us His love and His concern for our personal individual lives. When we serve others in ministry and care, then we follow His example of service and sacrifice for others. We receive our heavenly Father’s love when we share, serve and care for each other in the name of (according the loving commands of) Jesus Christ.
4. Receive the Son’s love! We especially want to live out the commandment that Jesus claimed as His own – the one that is the sum total of all the others (likened unto it). His “new commandment” is to . . . . . . .
In fact, love is the fulfillment of the whole law. It is the best way – one way we are called to obediently follow Christ.
5. Know Christ plainly and clearly! How do we experience Christ and know Him plainly as He has promised? Each of us are charged with doing “even greater miracles” than Jesus’ earthly ministry. But we can start in small ways and build on the relationships and people around us right now.
Maybe you can write your own story of how Christ makes Himself plain in your life . . .
Dear Heavenly Father, help us to see Christ in our everyday lives and obediently follow His commandments of love – in the name and according to the ordinances of love lived and practiced by Christ, Amen.

God's Spiritual Market Target

Matthew 9:35 – 10:8 “God’s Spiritual Market Target” preached by Ron Smith
Do you poop out at parties? Has your get up done got up and went? Where is your whim, wigger and why-tally-tea? Can we treat our spiritual well-being the same way as Lucille Ball's wonder tonic? What does God really want from us? Micah says to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our Lord. Jesus came to shepherd and befriend each one of us, in spite of our failure to be just, merciful and humble. It's not about me. It's about You, God! In post-modern advertising lingo that's God's spiritual market target. God wants to be much more than a mere commodity for spiritual vitality. He wants to take the lead as your friend – to be the “You focus” of your life, even though the world's marketing strategy tries to keep you “me focused.” God is still targeting the world with His love (John 3:16). His Holy Spirit continues to work through the church as God goes everywhere preaching and teaching and healing. And crowds of people are still gathering with great need (although not always inside church walls). Like Jesus we are called to have compassion for them, because people around the world are still harassed and helpless (Matthew 9:36). We are called to surrender our love to God and to others.
The harvest is plentiful, but there are not enough people to do the work (or at least we're not as peppy as we could be). The mission of Jesus was (and still is) carried out by His disciples who were given authority to act in Jesus' name (Matthew 10:1, 5-8). In order to be His disciples we should encourage and support each other in the community of Christ to live a “You” life in a “Me” world. Three Simple Rules of John Wesley provide one place to start: Do no harm. Do good, Stay in love with God. But this is not an invitation to return to legalism.

God has placed in front of us a constant choice of Life and Good or Death and Evil. Love God, your God. Walk in His ways. Keep His commandments, regulations, and rules so that you will live, really live - live exuberantly, blessed by God, your God (

Deuteronomy 30:15-16). But like the apostle Paul, I keep failing to keep all the rules and please God. If you're like me, then you'll have to quit being a “law man,” in order to be God’s man and God's woman. Christ’s life shows us how and enables us to do it. We must identify completely with Him. We must be crucified with Christ. Ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that you and I appear righteous before each other or that we carry the best opinion about each other. And we are no longer driven to impress God, either. Christ lives in you and Christ lives in me. Our lives are not “our own,” but we live by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and me and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:19-20).

When w

e give up our life for Christ's sake, God promises to free us from the bondage of the law. The love of Christ enables us to do this, because through Him – once God became human, He stayed with us in human form. He humbl

ed Himself even unto death - like us. He didn’t claim special privileges. He lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death - by the worst kind of death – crucifixion. And because of that obedience, God lifted Christ high and honored H

im far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth - even those long ago dead and buried - will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that He is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father (Philippians 2:8-11). How will you show Him your love and devotion in the future? 

 

Here’s what I want to do, and what God promises to help each of us to do: We should take our everyday, ordinary life - our sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and our walk-around life - and place it before God as an offering. Let's embrace what God is doing for you and me as the best thing we can do for Him. Let's not become well-adjusted to our culture (conformed to this world) so as to automatically fit into it. But instead, let's target our individual attention on God. Then you and I will be changed from the inside out. We have to keep recognizi

ng what God wants from you and me so that we can quickly respond to it. Don't let worldly circumstances drag us down to its level of immaturity. Let God bring the best out of each one of us (Romans 12:1-2) – Amen! We are tempted to live for ourselves and forget the source of all things—including ourselves. We “do harm” when we conform to a “Me” world and forget that the most important thing is to live for the Divine “You”. God is ready to renew our minds in a polluted “me” world by “doing good” and living out our personal sacrifices instead of allowing the world to squeeze us into its mold. God doesn't just want our generosity. God wants our whole selves. God wants our love and our lives. Jesus wants us to be so devoted in love that our response to Him daily is “as you wish”.

Let us join the angels at God’s throne and praise the Lord with Psalm 150 as obedient instruments to the glory of God - in true worship to the One who wants to be the “You” focus of our lives.

080518 Trinity Sunday Worship including Matthew 28:16-21 "We Serve One God" by Pastor Ron Smith

Matthew 28 14 27 We Believe in One True God preached 5 18 2008 by Ron Smith
When John Wesley said “the world is my parish” he was reflecting a sincere trinitarian view. Because God is a loving father, He wants those who are growing into the image of His Sonto experience the full abundance of the Holy Spirit in the entire world – not just a small piece or with small numbers in our heads and hearts.
I gave many of you a short insight into the Doctrine of the Trinity at Margaret Pitts' and Margaret Lynn's home when we thought about how God's number – even if it is the number one – is always bigger than our number or numbers. Of course, I was limiting that thought to the number of people in a church congregation or the number that show up for a particular worship service. But each one of us is privileged to come in communion with a triune God who teaches how to grow into His image as triune reflections of our divine father, brother and comforter.
One of the reasons why many people don't want to dwell on this understanding of God is that the Trinity makes it so clear how strange and different God is than our wildest imagination. Mary Louise put it this way when she thinks about the Trinity: “Sometimes when I pray I tell God He can come in the door but He has to sit in the chair and keep quiet. I know it sounds stupid, but I don’t want any of the omnipresent, omnipotent stuff. That’s too scary for me. I tell God I would like to learn to be open and intimate with Him, but I don’t want Him violating me.”
This may give us some insight as to why Jesus' Baptism by John the Baptist was necessary – so as to take out notions of a threatening Father God and calm our instinctive anxiety with the “beloved Son” and “peaceful Holy Spirit.” Jesus comes out of the wilderness after wrestling with temptations from the Devil. He victoriously descends into the water as our human representative and comes out of the water with the the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove and the Father's voice announcing His approval and love of the Son.
Marriage is a perfect example of how God teaches us how to perceive the uniqueness and union interplay. But even if you are not married there should be similar experiences in your life. Very good friends or a husband and wife have to recognize the difference between Self-sacrifice and Suffocation – or the difference between Self-assurance and Loneliness. Listen to the basic tension in what we recite before the wedding vows are given: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh”
(Genesis 2:24).
The divine relationship is one that accepts and gives of oneself without becoming smothered. Jesus exemplified this in parables like the Good Samaritan and lessons that ended with "I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink," and, "Just as you did it to one of the least of these ... you did it to me" (Matthew 25:35, 40)
Our relationships have the same kind of scary stuff that the Trinity is made of. We span two major conditions Union and Uniqueness. We strive for union, while also wanting to maintain our own unique individual selves. How can we keep this up without fusing and losing our individual identities – or emotionally cutting ourselves off from each other without the support and pleasure of love? What is man that thou art mindful of him . . . that thou hast placed him a little lower than the angels. The angels are fused with the will of God and have no will outside merely acting as messengers and agents of God's will. Our non-fused selves have a built-in tension with complete mindless obedience, because God wants us to understand and experience more of what the Trinity experiences. We are privileged to share in God's triune dynamic.
The physical world around us gives many examples of how water assumes different characteristics depending on the environmental circumstances. Our relationships and God's Trinity exhibit different personalities and roles for playing out who we are. But the unique properties of H2O remain the same and God speaks through His creation. The heavens are telling the glories of God.
In the poem “God's Trombones” when God is about to create mankind He says, “I'm lonely. So I think I'll make me a man!” But that poet wasn't thinking out the Trinity or that God is so loving within Himself that He could not be lonely or without love for self within His perfect triune fellowship. God as creator father, loving son and holy spirit is totally self-assured. Whereas when any one of us behaves self-assured without others, then we inevitably become lonely. Like Tarzan without Jane or Robinson Crusoe without Friday we swing too far out on a limb or wander away on a deserted island in the abject poverty without our social context. The body of Christ is the most perfect reflection of the Trinity in our earthly lives because God is with us in this new creation.
Dear Heavenly Father, we confess that without Your example as a triune God we would be like lonely people on our individual islands trying to push our way across deserted oceans of time and space. You brood over the chaos of our imperfect suffocating and lonely lives in Your perfect Trinity and You remake us as Your new creation – the Body of Christ in Your triune image. Thank You for making us for each other to the same degree as You are not made, but having always been who You are – in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

080513 Tuesday Prayer Breakfast with Rev. Cory Smith of Woodland United Methodist Church

The last time Cory spoke at Dexter’s Prayer Breakfast was October 23, 2007. Since then, his wife Alicia has become our church secretary. Needless to say, we are all very bless to have this wonderful Christian couple serve in so many ways to help our inner-city church revitalize.
In this devotional message Cory shares his interpretation of John 3:1-17 where Jesus tells Nicodemus “the meaning of life.” Cory introduces us to a modern day parable where a woman goes to a monk in a far away mountain retreat - so as to find “the meaning of life.” She talks incessantly while the monk continues to pour tea until in overflows onto her and everything around her. She stops her chatter and says, “Stop! Can’t you see that my cup is too full and I have too much?” To which the monk said, “Just so. Come back when your cup is empty and then we can talk again.”
In comparison Nicodemus is like so many of us who are too full and cannot receive what God has to give us.

080511 Pentecost Sunday Worship Service including Sermon based on Acts 2:1-21 entitled "How God Kept His Promise" by Pastor Ron Smith

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy Your consolations. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Happy Mothers’ Day and Happy Birthday to the Church on this blessed day of Pentecost! Jesus' disciples received power to continue His ministry and 3,000 more Christians joined the church after Peter preached to the crowd in Jerusalem. Besides reversing the Tower of Babel curse and allowing people to speak and understand each other "in new tongues" as Jesus promised His followers would do (Mark 16:17).

I believe all the gifts of the Spirit were manifest that day and it’s appropriate that we look at Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This was good stuff to remember last night on the capital steps up the street as the Attorney General and I led many grieve widows and mothers who would not have the happiest of Mothers’ Days today, because their husbands, sons and fathers lost their lives in the line of duty as police officers.

It’s not natural to have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control when others controlled by their evil and wicked passions senselessly snuff good lives out. The strange and miraculous change of heart and conversion of 3,000 souls in the streets of Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago happened because the evil and wickedness could not be projected over to some nameless criminal out there. They had “met the enemy and his is us” according to the Pogo Cartoon script.

We have hope because we can stop being God’s enemy and walk in the footsteps of Jesus. We can breath with Him, pray with Him, live with Him – ever closer to the mind and heart of Jesus.

Dear Heavenly Father, forgive us for not always paying attention to Your Holy Spirit and the example of Your Son Jesus Christ.

Please help me and everyone to be Your friend and not Your enemy. May the all days be mothers days for Your Church – in the blessed name and divine purpose of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

080415 Tuesday Prayer Breakfast with Corky Hawthorn, Christian Attorney

Christian Attorney - Corky Hawthorn is energetic for the Lord Jesus Christ! Since his near death life changing drunk driving automobile accident, he has preached taught cajoled and generally evangelized anyone and everyone he can relate with about the saving grace and knowledge of our Lord's transforming power.

Corky studies the Bible with different groups virtually every day of the week including Friday mornings with Pastor Ron, Al Perkins, Tom Bridges, Doug McCurry, Johnny Davis, Randell Thomas, Carmen Falcione, Hamid Sattari and other notable Christian pastors, lay speakers and prayer warriors - who are featured on these blog and podcast websites.

080413 John 10:1-10 "Abundant Life" by Pastor Ron Smith

What we’re dealing with here is: “Who is Lord and Master of our lives?” Is Jesus the Lord of your life, and, if not, who is? Who calls the signals? Who calls the shots? Who is the basis of your decision making process for your life?
Now most of you are going to say to yourself right here, “well, Jesus is the Lord of my life.” But is He really? Do you really let Him call the signals and shots? Is He really the boss of your life?

There are so many gods screaming for our attention on all sides of us. We live in a multitasking world with the media piping in just some of what calls the shots in our lives. Every one of these gods asks us to bow down and serve them. Wealth and money is a god for some, because the making and acquiring of money and keeping it is what cause some people to make decisions for themselves and others. Power is a god for some, because (like some politicians) they have a “fire in the belly” to acquire power before they do anything else; they’ll sell their own grandmother to acquire power. Pleasure is god for some people, when they seek to satisfy the lusts of the flesh even to the point of loosing secondary gods of money and power – like some of our recently fallen politicians, who throw discretion to the wind. Elliot Spitzer was like King Saul who outlawed sorcerers, but sought out and used the Witch of Endor to conjure up the ghost of his mentor Samuel (I Samuel 28) in direct disobedience of that law of Moses (Deuteronomy 18:9-12).

People who worship these other gods will not admit this in public. They may very well claim to worship God and follow Jesus. But when the phone rings and asks them to do something that serves the other god, then that’s where they go. So that’s how we can tell who their god is.

I don’t think there are any of those kind of people here with us right now, but our closeness to family and to our friends might be another god, too. Jesus shows us how to balance our service to God and family when He lingered at the temple with strangers, but came home when his family told Him to (Luke 2:43-52); when He submitted to God's timing, but still helped His mother at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11); and when He died on the cross for the best and the worst sinners, but first provided for His mother (John 19:25-27). We can serve God by serving our family's needs (1 Timothy 5:7-8, Ephesians 5:33 and 1 Corinthians 7:3-5). But we must seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Even in the best of family relations Jesus must be the Lord of your life and mine.

There is a second question: Do we do what Jesus says we should do? Do we in fact follow Him, when there are so many different paths to go down? Jesus wants us to do two things: 1) Love the Lord God with all our heart, soul and might – and that’s not all that hard to do since we haven’t seen Him, but He’s given us breath and life and a land to live on and to sustain life. He’s given us Jesus and the church. He’s given us forgiveness. It’s not really very hard to love God with all our heart, soul and might. But Jesus didn’t stop there. 2) He said “. . . and love your neighbor as yourself.” Now the shoe starts to pinch, when some neighbors just aren’t all that loveable. There are some people who are awfully difficult to love. There are all kinds of people around here who beg and demand that we give them things. People say they are the “dregs of society.” And we are only a stones throw from the railroad tracks where they roll out from under the boxcars. But I have to remind myself that Jesus Christ died for each one of them, too. And in that sense there is no difference between them and me – at all! Each one of them is the neighbor that Jesus says I should love as much as I may love myself. So, loving your neighbor is much more difficult than loving God – at least it is for me.

What frightens me is how Jesus came to the end of His Sermon on the Mount and said, “Not everyone who says unto me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21). But You preached in our streets – and the Lord says, “I never knew you.” I hear people praying and saying “Lord, Lord” and I wonder. Who is it that says, “Lord, Lord” who will not enter into the kingdom of heaven? That’s frightening when some give the impression of piety and thankfulness, but who aren’t going to enter the kingdom of heaven. Like John Wesley, I’ve finally gotten around to understanding that there are some who are not going to make it into the kingdom. Jesus says some will not listen and follow Him. And just following the trappings of righteousness can be scary, too. People followed James Jones from California to South America and then followed him to death by drinking arsenic laced cool-aid. That shepherd was a very poor substitute for Jesus. But the rest of Matthew 7:21 quotes Jesus saying, “. . . but the one who does the will of my Father will enter into His kingdom.” And that’s the salvation part.

Dear Heavenly Father, it has been so difficult to love my neighbor and I believe there are several others here who have the same problem. Some neighbors remind me too much of the part of me that I don’t like. Some neighbors are the enemy of all that I love like Osama bin Laden. Some of my neighbors are such ingrates and will turn around and return evil for good or just reject love and kindness. But You are all about forgiving 70 times 7 and my excuses are not better than my neighbors. Please forgive our lack of love and forgiveness in Jesus’ name, Amen.

080411 Friday Focus with Hamid Sattari - Christian, Iranian and American

Hamid Sattari is a naturalized United States citizen who escaped Iran when the current Muslim extremists took over the rule of his homeland. His parents were killed at the close of World War II when Russian officials wanted their oil rich land. His intellectual curiosity led him to becoming first a medical doctor in Iran and then an Iranian Air Force pilot capable of flying all craft available. He rose to the rank of base commander under the Shah's regime. The Khomeini revolutionary forces planned to assassinate Hamid, but he managed to first get his American wife and children to the U.S. before persuading his fellow Iranian Air Force officers to grant him special leave out of the country. The pilot of his jet plane to Western Europe almost turned the craft around just to hand Hamid over to the assassins. But he was miraculously saved.

Even though Hamid remained Muslim while residing in Montgomery, he tried praying to Jesus because he heard that Christ was a healer and might save his dying sixteen year old daughter from eminent death. When his prayers were not answered he was at first very angry at God and in particular toward Jesus of Nazareth.

But then another miracle happened. Hamid was actually visited by Jesus Christ in his deepest depression and sorrow. Hamid declared Him Lord and Savior of his life. And today this man is a devout follower of Jesus Christ. In so doing he has lost relationship with his friends and family in Iran.

Hamid's testimony should help many people to understand the saving and redeeming power of Jesus Christ. Thank you Hamid for your wonderful Christian witness.

080406 "Walking On" by Pastor Ron Smith

Cleopas and the other disciple were walking away from Jerusalem when the resurrected Christ joined them. His death was so certain that they could not perceive Him to be the stranger who was listening and talking with them.
What do we have in common with these two and what can we expect to happen when we have renewed encounters with our risen Lord? My friend Al Perkins has helped me identify seven seasons of faith that we discover as disciples of Jesus Christ: curiosity, commitment, shock, disillusionment, hope, a deeper search and revelation. My walk with the Lord (and perhaps yours as well) continues to pass through these seasons of faith like weather patterns of my soul.

Curiosity is how they first heard Jesus when they first started to follow Him during His earthly ministry. Like the Greeks who came to meet Him in the Temple, all potential disciples say, “we would see Jesus” (John 12:20-22). Jesus is the Alpha to all meaningful relationships, which begin with curiosity and questions. When I asked Annemarie out for a cup of coffee after Christianity and Western Thought class more than 40 years ago, I was just curios. And so was she. But there was no real relationship until we committed ourselves to a real relationship.

Those disciples also made a commitment when they decided, “I’ll follow Him.” But they were supposed to be with Jesus admitting their discipleship during His trial and execution and they didn’t do that. In the same way today - it isn’t just wearing the right T-shirt with the right scripture verse on it. It isn’t about whether we show up on NFL televised games with the right signs declaring gospel messages, either. But it’s a start and some of us might never walk on beyond this stage or season of faith.

When we see a person we greatly admire fall into disrepute by the media, some of us are not surprised. But some of us who knew the person to be of good character just can’t believe it. These disciples were like the latter. They were in shock when they heard that Jesus had been arrested. The shocking truth is that He was crucified precisely because God loves us. And we did the arrest, torture and execution in our vilest sinful condition. Just as the cartoon suggests: we caught God looking at us “in that way” and we were determined to kill Him.

They were overwhelmed with disillusionment. All that they had hoped for – “that he was the one to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:20) - everything that Jesus had meant to them as the promised Messiah was gone and they felt that there was nothing else to look forward to. The two disciples were like the two characters in the fourth cartoon. As if one sign weren’t bad enough, “The end is near”, the other carries an even worse prediction: “You wish!” Without Jesus the end to the hellish conditions of this world are nothing compared to the prospect of no end to turmoil in hell after death without Him. These wandering disciples were so disillusioned that they could not see how close their salvation was. He was with them all that time of despair.

Hope seems to come from out of nowhere when this stranger starts helping these walking disciples to remember what the prophets had foretold: Sure, the Messiah was to be the prince of peace, counselor and ruler. Yes, even more. But Isaiah also said that by His wounds we are healed and He must suffer and rise up from the dead on the third day. Our salvation relies on repenting by His name so that He may forgive the sins of all nations (Luke 24:44-45). And just as “no scripture was harmed in the preparation of this sermon”, no scripture was altered in the preparation of your personal salvation through Jesus Christ.

They invited Jesus to stay with them. They wanted to make a further search about this stranger and what He had to say. They continued to listen to Jesus (the Living Word of God) review the scriptures including the earliest prophesy of how the Messiah would crush the head of the evil serpent who had brought death to our first parents in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15). The end of God’s new creation story was in the battle in which Satan wounded the Messiah on the cross, but the Messiah destroyed death by His perfect life, submissive death and victorious resurrection (Isaiah 53). This journey of the hearts and minds of these two caused them later to remark, “did our hearts not burn within us?” But they didn’t express it with such emotion when they were with Him.

Finally, at the table when Jesus broke the bread with them – this is when and how they recognized Jesus’ true identity. This is the revelation that each disciple must have so as to find out who Jesus really is in his or her own life. It is not so much in what He says, but in what He does at the table. Walking on with God is only part of our relationship with Him. The full cycle requires revelation of the risen Savior and Lord in our midst.
Dear Heavenly Father, whatever season of faith we are in right now I pray that You send Your Holy Spirit to be with each one of us. If we find ourselves just curious, then give us more than just wanting to see Jesus. If we are committed to following Jesus, help us to stay the course and always walk with Him. If we are shocked by the cruel conditions in this world, give us the faith and grace to walk on with Jesus. If we are disillusioned from not feeling or sensing Your presence, then give us hope for the living of these days in expectation of Your coming. If we have hope, but fail to give others hope by sharing Your love and grace, please forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. If we are still searching the scripture for You, please reveal Yourself to us as living among us. For it is in dying that we are born to eternal life by His blood and name: King Jesus, Amen.

080330 Worship Service including John 20:19-31 sermon "Peace be with you" by Pastor Ron Smith

The first Easter was a busy day for Jesus. First thing - He got out of the grave and spoke to Mary and the other women and told them what to do. Then He walked seven miles to Emmaus with two disciples. He broke bread with them and came back to Jerusalem for the event we just read about. He first blessed them with “peace be with you” and then commissioned them as those who are sent (apostelon) just as the father had sent Him to the world.
Thomas might have gone to the restroom or he might have gone out for a walk to console himself in grief. But when he returned, the others said, “We’ve seen the Lord. Jesus was here.” And Thomas didn’t believe them. His reaction was like saying, “’Peace be with you?’ Yeah, right! I don’t believe you. I won’t believe – until I can put my fingers in the holes in his hands and side.” That’s an act of Thomas’ will. And that’s something that speaks to all of us. It begs the question, “Are we going to believe or are we not going to believe.” And you know we’re not going to believe unless we WANT to believe. Each of us have a decision to make: either I will believe or I will not believe. Kierkegaard called this the “either/or” of faith. When we defy Proverbs 3:5 and lean on our own understanding, then we are saying “I will believe when I can be convinced, empirically that this is so – then I’ll believe.” So we can WILL to believe or WILL not to believe that Jesus is resurrected and was standing there before those other disciples.
The following Sunday – Jesus came back with the same greeting and this time Thomas was with all the other disciples. Now if Jesus went to all the trouble of getting crucified to get us into the kingdom, it doesn’t seem strange that He came back to get Thomas. Thomas was part of the team and when the commissioning came on he was not there. Jesus came back, because He wanted Thomas on the team and He made Thomas aware of His resurrection.
This gospel passage is traditionally used on the Sunday after Easter every year, because this is an important passage. And what makes it important is that this is when it happened. And that makes a difference. Christianity is based on factual events that actually happened in a moment in history. At a moment in time God called Abraham and told him He found a family. God in a moment in history spoke to Moses and said, “You go back into Egypt and let my people go, bring my people out.” At a moment in history a real virgin had a real baby in a place called Bethlehem. At a moment in history that baby had grown up and went into the water and was baptized. There were other people, who saw each event. In a moment in history this man Jesus performed all kinds of miracles with many witnesses. He fed the hungry, gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. He made the lame walk and even raised the dead and expelled evil spirits. At specific moments in time these things actually happened and that’s the difference between Christianity and all the other faiths that people profess around the world.
These events really did happen. And the people in the scripture really had the same kind of feelings that you and I have. They were tempted and purged like you and me. When Thomas said to the eyewitnesses, “I don’t believe you,” then he fell out of fellowship with the other disciples. One of us might respond the same way, if you excused yourself for a moment from this sanctuary only to miss out on a great miracle. You might tell the rest of us who experienced the event, “I don’t believe you.”
Each of us might try to convince you in different ways: “You don’t believe us . . . that means you don’t trust us.” Our mutual fellowship and faith would be damaged. Some of us would feel sad for you. Somebody might feel like you’re calling us liars or you’re saying we’re crazy. And we’d feel offended and hurt.
But the Thomas-in-us wants tangible proof, because it’s too important a thing to happen without reasoning and drawing logical conclusions. Some of you have attended the Brownsville Revival or a Billy Graham Crusade when hundreds of people were being saved every night. When I joined Billy’s evangelism team in 1996 I was still trying to explain logically what God does in people’s lives. Last Thursday the Gideons and I handed out close to 800 New Testaments to law enforcement and 911 communications personnel who started immediately reading what I had tried to get them to do for two years. This was for me a powerful witness that Jesus still shows up in our everyday lives.
Jail chaplain, Tom Bridges witnessed vivid proof the other day when he experienced his first demon possession and deliverance at the close of a worship service with female inmates. One of the women moved around a lot and seemed to be hurting. She consented to letting him anoint her and pray for her, but the Lord spoke to his heart and told Tom to stop. The Lord told Tom, “I don’t want you to lay hands on her and pray for her. I want you to point your finger at her and caste the demons out.” He obeyed and just pointed his finger at her and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ get out of her.” She immediately raised about 18 inches and fell to the floor with her legs bowed under her torso. She dragged her body across the floor. Her eyes went completely white. Her tongue started to hiss like a snake. Two correctional officers were poised to use mace. After a few minutes of this he offered to help the woman off the floor while asking her name. Her eyes opened and she gently said, “My name is Shirley - Peace be with you.”
Dear Heavenly Father, Your Son and Holy Spirit are still showing up in our lives to say, “Peace be with you.” Thank You for Your facts and events in scripture and in our lives that are so real – that are not made up as delusions or apparitions. For all knees shall bow and tongues confess, Jesus Christ is Lord, in His name, Amen.

080328 Friday Focus with Jim Roden, Gideons International

Jim Roden is among the thousands of Gideons who actively support and volunteer a great deal of time and energy to the distribution of Biblical scripture around the world.

Having God's Word can lead people to faith in Christ, and those new Christians can then grow by studying their Scriptures and even use them to share their faith with others.

For this reason, Gideons International focuses on distributing complete Bibles or New Testaments. These Scriptures are printed in more than 80 languages and are either given directly to certain individuals or placed in selected public locations where large numbers of people who may be searching for answers will have the ability to encounter the Word of God.

Distributing complete copies of God's Word also . . .

Plants powerful seeds that God can use in His timing. (I Corinthians 3:6)
Allows people to read the truth for themselves. (John 8:32)
Provides a continuing witness when the Gideon is no longer present. (Hebrews 4:12)
Makes it easier for the people we reach to in turn reach others with the truth about Jesus. (II Timothy 2:2)
Makes it possible for new Christians to learn and grow through personal Bible study.
(II Timothy 2:15)

Scriptures are distributed one by one by members of The Gideons International to these groups:

Students in the 5th grade and above
Prisoners and police, fire, medical and military personnel
Anyone else Gideons witness to individually
Scriptures are placed in certain locations, including:

Hotels and motels
Hospitals, convalescent homes, medical offices and domestic violence shelters
Prisons and jails

080323 Worship Service including Sermon based on Matthew 28:1-10 "Easter is VERY Different" by Pastor Ron Smith

Award ceremonies after a great contest such as the playoffs in a season of sports or a graduation from school or a retirement from a successful career – all these bring everyone involved at that final event to an awareness of what the victors have won. They stand on stages or other places of prominence where everyone becomes emotional. They cheer, sing songs, applaud – and some cry for shear joy. Awards are raised high. Olympic officials raise three flags of the bronze, silver and gold winners and the national anthem of the gold medalist is played.
Our hearts tell us something else is happening at these events: The ones who receive the awards are not the only ones who win. Their fans, teammates, family, friends and (in the case of the Olympics) whole countries – also win. Notice how the media tries to find parents and hometown supporters so as to get the full impact of everyone who shares in on the victory. Somehow, everyone watching on can feel that he or she shares in the victory.
Shortly before Evel Knievel died last year, he told Robert Schuler that he had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior AND believed in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9). Schuler and his church applauded and rejoiced with the angels above for another soul who was won for Jesus Christ. That means that no matter how reckless or ungodly Knievel had been, he now shares in Christ’s resurrection that Peter witnessed to the newly birthed church on Pentecost: “God raised Jesus Christ up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24). One of the most dare devil characters of recent time died with his “life hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-4). Therefore, since he had been raised with Christ, God allowed him to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (3:14).
The resurrection story makes two great affirmations. One affirmation is that Christ has won the victory from death, which no one else could possibly win. But the second is a promise throughout the gospel narratives - that even 11th hour decision-makers like the thief on the cross and Evel Knievel are winners, too. Even though each of us is a sinner who deserves eternal damnation – you and I can also share in Christ’s victory on Easter day. Our Lord’s victory is his vindication, but it’s also our vindication, too. Through Him our relationship with God is made right.
Easter is VERY different because Jesus’ resurrection is totally different from any of the other people raised from the dead in the Bible: Elijah brought the widow's son back (1 Kings 17:17-22), Elishah raised the Schunammite's son and an unnamed man (2 Kings 4:32-53 & 13:20), Jesus called forth Jairus' daughter, another widow's son and Lazarus (Matthew 9:23-25, Luke 7:11-15 & John 11:43), Peter raised his own mother-in-law and Dorcas (Acts 9:36-40) and Paul did the same with Eutychus (Acts 20:9). At the time of Jesus’ resurrection, "many bodies of the saints... came out of the graves... went into the holy city, and appeared unto many" (Matthew 27:52).
The difference is that Jesus’ resurrection is a true victory over death itself – not for just a little while – only to die again. His eternal life is tied to His sinless-ness. The great apologist R.C. Sproul puts it this way: “For God to allow Jesus to be forever bound by death would have been for God to violate His own righteous character. It would have been an injustice, an act that is supremely impossible for God to commit. The surprise is not that Jesus rose, but that He stayed in the tomb as long as He did. Perhaps it was God’s condescension to human weakness of unbelief that inclined Him to keep Christ captive, to ensure that there would be no doubt He was dead and the Resurrection would not be mistaken for a resuscitation.” Amen – this is not some kind of super-CPR act on the part of God.
As many as 500 eyewitnesses of the risen Christ certified the integrity of their faith with their own blood as non-Christian Jews and Roman officials began to torture and kill them and many other believers as divisive rebels against the established religious and political order for 300 years. The ancient church was willing to die for their hope of shared Resurrection with Christ, because they believed “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
In 1633 Pastor George Herbert composed this beautiful “Easter” poem: “RIse heart; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise . . . Without delayes, Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise . . . With him mayst rise: That, as his death calcined thee to dust, His life may make thee gold, and much more, just. Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part . . . With all thy art. The crosse taught all wood to resound his name, . . .Who bore the same. His stretched sinews taught all strings, what key Is best to celebrate this most high day. Consort both heart and lute, and twist a song … Pleasant and long: Or, since all musick is but three parts vied … And multiplied, O let thy blessed Spirit bear a part, And make up our defects with his sweet art.”
“I got me flowers to straw thy way; I got me boughs off many a tree: But thou wast up by break of day, And brought’st thy sweets along with thee. The Sunne arising in the East, Though he give light, & th’ East perfume;
If they should offer to contest With thy arising, they presume. Can there be any day but this, Though many sunnes to shine endeavour? We count three hundred, but we misse: There is but one, and that one ever.”
Dear Heavenly Father, we praise You and Your risen Son and for our being raised in His name & life, Amen.

080321 Good Friday Service with 7 Preachers Interpreting Christ's 7 Last Words from the Cross for 7 Minutes Each

Below is the order of worship with assigned speakers and times for this very unique ecumenical service representing church leaders from the Church of God in Christ, Episcopal, Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, Non-denominational, and United Methodist Churches.

Good Friday Service
7 Words – 7 Ministers – 7 Minutes
March 21, 2008

Words of Welcome Pastor Ron Smith
Opening Prayer Pastor Ron Smith

11:30am THE FIRST WORD Rev. Al Perkins
Luke 23:33-34 - When they came to the place called “The Skull”, they nailed Jesus to the cross there, and the two criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Jesus said, “Forgive them, Father! They do not know what they do”.

11:38am THE SECOND WORD Rev. Johnny Davis
Luke 23:39-43 - One of the criminals hanging there threw insults at him: “Aren’t you the messiah? Save yourself and us!” The other one, however, rebuked him, saying: “Don’t you fear God? Here we are all under the same sentence. Ours, however, is only right, for we are getting what we deserve for what we did; but he has done no wrong.” And he said to Jesus, “Remember me, Jesus, when you come into your kingdom!” Jesus said to him, “I tell you this: Today you will be with me in Paradise”.

11:46am THE THIRD WORD Rev. Ed Diebler
John 19:25-27 - Standing close to Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s Sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son”. Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother”. And from that time the disciple took her to live in his home.

11:54am THE FOURTH WORD Rev. Tom Bridges
Mark 15:33-34 – And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elo-i, elo-i, lama sabach-thani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

12:02pm THE FIFTH WORD Rev. Doug McCurry
John 19:28 – After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, to fulfill the Scripture said, “I thirst”.

12:10 pm THE SIXTH WORD Rev. Carmen Falcione
John 19:29-30 - A bowl was there, full of cheap wine mIxed with vinegar, so a sponge was soaked in it, put on hyssop and lifted up to his lips. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished”.

12:18pm THE SEVENTH WORD Rev. Clifford Terrell
Luke 23:46 – Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this, he breathed his last.

Benediction Pastor Ron Smith

080316 Matthew 26:14, 66 "Unpredictable Love" by Pastor Ron Smith

Many writers and thinkers have suggested that we live in an age of narcissism. This concept is based on the mythological god named Narcissus, who very predictably fell in love with himself after a goddess, whom he rejected, cursed him with self-infatuation. Judas’ behavior predictably resembles Narcissus and some other betrayers in the Bible like Absalom. That earlier “son of David” was a predictably self-absorbed and manipulative individual. Absalom used his manipulative charm to win the hearts of the common people. He predictably tried to take over his father's throne. Absalom, Judas and Narcissus all exemplify our personal hubris (character glitch) that predictably kicks in when we think or behave like we know what is really best for us and those around us – instead of God Almighty.
Palm Sunday is based on Matthew 21:1-11, which celebrates Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem during the Passover feast. Many people who cheered and chanted the entry greeting “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord – Hosanna in the Highest” – many of them used this passage from Psalm 118, precisely because it was the prophetic greeting for a victorious king entering Jerusalem. But less than a week later those same people had seen no king like they had expected. They were telling themselves and God Almighty that THEY knew what was best for themselves and that THEY didn’t want this Son of God – this heavenly king of peace and righteousness.
They had a passion for a king they could manipulate with parades, compliments and political favors. But God had a passion for His chosen one to save us all from our petty spoiled selves. God’s passion won out as it was supposed to do. That’s why we call this coming week “The Passion of Christ.” As foretold in Isaiah He ‘gave His back to the smiters,’ and His ‘cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;’ He did not hide His face ‘from shame and spitting’ (50:4-9a). Yes, He “heard the whispering of many people and demons -- terror on every side!-- as they schemed together against Him, as they plotted to take His life. But He trusted in God His Father, O LORD, He said, "Thou art my God." (Psalm 31:15-16). “Though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
Tragedy and pathos led up to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice. Judas Iscariot represents each one of us - as a fickle self-centered follower who cheers God on with pretended devotion on Palm Sunday and betrays, mocks and derides Him a few days later. Bipolar treacherous hearts beat against the steady forgiving love of God through Jesus Christ on the cross.
I have turned against God and betrayed the love of Jesus, while expecting only the worst from God in return. Then when God didn’t punish me I have occasionally chosen to continue to punish myself in spite of God’s forgiveness and grace. I won’t go so far as to try suicide, but I have thrown money or something else back at the people or things that were involved with my wrongdoing, so as to make myself feel better, like Judas giving back the 30 pieces of silver in disgust or out of remorse.
When I resign myself like Judas – to try to undo the wrong by myself - repenting under my own strength and becoming hopeless, then I will inevitably – predictably - fail. When I shoot at the sinful targets of unbelief and self-centeredness – God’s prevenient grace and love has blown and steered circumstances around my misguided arrows to His unpredictable will – in spite of my worst intentions.
Here is the great hope for those who draw near to God: if Judas’ betrayal became part of the best way to bless all creation, then how much greater will God bless us all when we individually follow God’s will and truly accept God's grace. When I am less self-reliant or self-absorbed, then I begin to reestablish a right relationship with God.
The blood of Jesus can cleanse us of even the most awful sin. Jesus is always willing to forgive us and to receive us in love – just like He did on the cross when He said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
We can choose to be unpredictable like Jesus and forgive those who have wronged us. Then God will in unpredictable fashion make us whole again.
Dear Heavenly Father, You enable us to embrace the joy and happiness that comes from forgiving and being forgiven. Your throne of mercy and grace is unequaled and far more glorious than any earthly ruler – including those we sinfully obey in our own hearts and minds when we sin against You. Forgive us Lord and teach us to forgive. Empower us to pick up our cross daily and follow Jesus Christ – in His name we pray, Amen.

080311 Tuesday Prayer Breakfast "Interpretation of Romans 5:1-5" by Rev. Tony Antonelli, Autaugaville United Methodist Church

Rev. Tony Antonelli is an experienced evangelist for the gospel of Jesus of Christ. His message based on Romans 5:1-5 is clearly scriptural and doctrinally sound. In this message his Tony encourages all Christians to witness from their personal life experiences.

1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5 RSV)

080309 John 11:1-44 "Come Forth Everyone" by Pastor Ron Smith

Yesterday afternoon a long time member of this church and friend to many of us died. We are grieving Coach Nip Posey’s passing and our grief is similar to feelings we share with those in the gospel lesson today. Lazarus was probably not as old as Nip or as young as the 22-year-old Jim Long who died Thursday before he could make another regular visit at our 301 Dance club.
I believe one of the reasons why God’s lesson surrounding the death, burial and resurrection of Lazarus is so important is to show how Jesus overcomes our grief with truth, patience, redemption, joy and His ruling Lordship.
Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has named five stages of grief people go through during a serious loss: denial, anger, bargaining, sadness and acceptance. Sometimes people get stuck in one of the first four stages. Their lives can be painful until they move to the fifth stage - acceptance. And Jesus demonstrates how each one of us can chose to deal with our own grief by accepting His truth to combat denial, His patience to combat anger, His redemption to combat our bargaining, His joy to combat our depression and sadness, and His ruling Lordship to conquer our feeble acceptance to circumstances of death and disease.
Martha was acting out her denial when she sent for Jesus and just waited – so as to passively expect Lazarus to get better. She kept calling for Jesus to come and bring him back. Some people act out their denial by withdrawing from their usual social contacts. This could last a few days or even the rest of their life. Martha and Mary didn’t do that. Other mourners continued to remind them of their loss and they stayed with their grief without getting stuck in their denial.
Martha and then later Mary showed their anger toward Jesus when each of them first confronted Jesus with, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died “(11:21, 32). They didn’t stay in this accusatory anger for long, though. Mary and Martha may have been furious at Jesus for not responding when they sent for Him to come. But Jesus didn’t inflict the pain by His absence. They were hurt because their brother was dying and was now dead. As an attorney I saw many people stuck in this stage at least until a murderer was brought to justice or a settlement for wrongful death or serious injury was obtained. But anger is not really controlled by “who did it.” This world is full of bad things that happen to good people. We can keep asking God, “why me” or “why now” or “why did this have to happen, when we had so much to hope for”? But realistically, there are no clear answers to most of these questions and many times nothing could have stopped what caused our great loss and pain.
Martha moved on to the Bargaining stage of grief when she said, “And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you” (11:22). Conversion experiences like Paul’s on the road to Damascus and Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac were bargaining stages of grief that said, "God - if I do this, will You take away my loss?" The other Jews expected a bargain from Jesus when they said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” (11:37). Perhaps some of you are still bargaining with God to do something special for you like He did for someone else. Jesus our Redeemer settled all bargains. He paid the price forever.
Mary and some of her friends apparently skipped over the bargaining stage with Jesus. They remained numb with deep sadness and a hidden smoldering emotional mass of anger, guilt and loss. “Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; and he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" (34-36)
Acceptance - to the world is “giving up” and “weak resignation.” But Acceptance in Jesus Christ is filled with abundant hope. The worldly sciences say that “time will heal all wounds” and our grief that produces anger, sadness and mourning will taper off. Then we are supposed to simply accept the reality of our loss. But Jesus asks Martha and each one of us, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" Those who obeyed Jesus and "took away the stone" (v. 41a) acted in faith so that our Lord and Savior could do the rest.
Let us join Jesus in His prayer before the tomb of His friend by praying through our grief.
Dear Heavenly Father, You are the One to Whom Jesus looked up and we repeat His prayer, 'Father, I thank you for having heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing and sitting here, so that they may believe that You sent Jesus to call Lazarus and each one of us to come out of our graves! Some of us have been in our emotional tombs of grief for more than four days. Some of us have gone on before us and await for the trumpet to sound and Jesus to call us up for His last judgment. We confess our dead grief and ask for Your fulfilled promises that can only come from Jesus Christ. Give us His truth to combat denial, His patience to combat anger, His redemption to combat our bargaining, His joy to combat our depression and sadness, and His ruling Lordship to concur our feeble acceptance to circumstances of death and disease. Our eyes of faith see our rising from the dead with wonder and not with horror. Unbind each one of us and let us go to You in the name of Jesus Christ who says, "Yes, I come quickly." Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus. Amen!

080302 John 9 "God Sightedness" by Pastor Ron Smith

Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). When I’m making hospital visits for our members or constituents with the public safety departments I can’t always dress up like I do on Sunday’s. That’s probably why some people ask for my ID or business card so that they can see that I am a pastor. When any of us act in Christ-like ways of loving kindness and forgiveness, then that is how Jesus says we glorify God and prove our real identity as Christians.
I hope some of you read my Steeple article for this Sunday and reflected on the similarities of this Gospel story and 1 Samuel 16:1-13 where David was selected to be king of Israel. God instructed Samuel: “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature . . . for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
There were probably other blind people who made contact with Jesus, but this man was used “to glorify God” as Jesus explained. The Greek word for glorify is also used to make a “judgment about someone’s personal worth.” This means that those who truly see God’s presence in the life of Jesus Christ will make the right judgment about Jesus beyond the healing and miracles that He performs.
Samuel glorified God by following divine direction to choose the least likely David. The supremely chosen Messiah chose the least likely blind man from birth to glorify God and show how much He loves each one of us.
David didn’t look much like a king and Jesus didn't look much like a Savior to some people. When Jesus came to his hometown of Nazareth to teach in the synagogue, the people asked one another, "Isn't this Joseph's son" (Luke 4:22)? Even though many people saw His miracles and healing and heard His teaching, Jesus’ own hometown folk thought that He just looked like the carpenter's kid.
The once blind man proved that he was a true follower of Jesus, especially while the Pharisees were questioning him. His light was shining before others as one who was thankful and truthful about what had happened to him.
My friend, Arnold Smith, has experienced a very different kind of blindness in his life. He is now an associate pastor in Selma, but he used to be a professional basketball player. His success in sports, in business and with different women had blinded him to the truth of his miserable life. In 1998 he robbed a bank with three other men, because he was blind to how he was manipulated by others who said it couldn’t be done.
5 minutes of temporary egotistical blindness resulted in 5 years of prison and being away from people who loved and cared for him. While in prison, he obeyed Jesus like the blind man was healed of his moral and spiritual blindness through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. It was like Jesus had spit on the muddy life style he had been living and he only had to obey and wash his eyes in a prison cell.
Recently, Arnold discovered that his 14 year old daughter, whom he had raised since birth is not really his biological child. And a few weeks later a woman from his professional sports era disclosed he had fathered another daughter, whom another man had supported for 12 years. The healing miracle is that he is now able to support both girls and consider them both his own, while maintaining a steady marriage to his current wife (Mea), a beautiful baby boy (Aaron), and a full time ministry. The Pastor of the church in which he is an Associate was the manager of the bank he robbed.
Arnold says, ‘No one can tell me that Love doesn’t work! I am not only a living witness but proof ! God is Love! Love never fails!”
Dear Heavenly Father, just as You gave sight to Arnold and the blind man in our gospel story, please remove whatever blindness we have in our life. Lord God, You promised that when we desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part You shall make each one of to know wisdom (Psalm 51:6). Help us to see clearly before we stumble for a life-time or even blindly walk away from Your eternal heavenly light. Save us LORD – for Your love never fails, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

080217 John 3:1-17 "Night Visit II" by Pastor Ron Smith

This sermon is based on the same scripture passage and the same written script that Pastor Ron used that Sunday morning at Dexter Ave UMC. But here he delivers a somewhat different message to Delraida United Methodist Church in Montgomery for their evening worship service at the invitation of their very capable pastor, Ed Deabler, who spoke at Dexter earlier and is recorded for this podcast series.

080217 John 3:1-17 "Night Visit" by Pastor Ron Smith

New birth is basic to our Christian understanding of how God reconciles you and me to Himself. I’ve walked in the flesh (instead of the spirit) like Nicodemus was walking that night and those drear and somber states of the soul may still come over me again before I leave this earth. Walking in the flesh sounds and feels like this: “Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” (“Invictus” by William Earnest Hinley). This me-centered flesh attempts to control destiny by being my own master and opposing God’s will. Then I miss the mark and live in sin away from God’s perfect plan.
Jesus introduced Nicodemus to a rebirth into his spiritual existence. This is life changing for anyone. For me as a 10-year-old boy having asked Jesus to come into my heart. I still didn’t feel changed very much. By the time I was to be baptized at 11, the preacher had done such a good job of convincing me that all my sins would be washed away and that I would be a totally new person – I was convinced that I was going to die and another person, “a new creature” was going to take my place. In my child’s mind and imagination I was easily mixing my preachers sermon messages up with many tales I heard or watched in the movies. That summer a horror movie played on our local Saturday morning matinee called the “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” It convinced me that there might be some evil forces that could make perfect physical duplicates of original people out of big plant pods. They would be indistinguishable from the original person, except for their milk toast bland lack of emotion. Rev. J. Omar Jones preached about a loving God who could change me into a good person, one who would be more obedient to my parents and even maybe make better grades in school. So I thought it would be better to get in the first punch on this body snatching business and let God snatch me into being more like Jesus in a permanent kind of way.
This kind of playful imagination still goes on in many children’s minds and hearts. And although I have convinced myself that I have a more grownup understanding of what Jesus does in my life, I still remember the feeling that I was really going to die when I so much as touched the water for my baptism. Then when the pastor put me under and pulled me out while saying, “buried with Christ Jesus and raised to walk with Him in newness of life” I was astounded that I seemed to be the same person.
My friend Fred Craddock used to teach preaching at Emory University and he still likes to say in his sermons one particular phrase to explain how much of God’s grace it takes to change a person’s life: “It’s enough . . . it’s just enough.” That night when Nicodemus was with Jesus - those few words spoken were “just enough.” There was a little part of me that did die when I asked Jesus to come into my heart so as to make room for Him. And then when I was raised from the water still a little bit must have died for God’s Holy Spirit to work in me. That seed of faith God planted changed me “just enough” at that time and continues to grow in my life. Some people give this process after new birth in the Spirit a fancy title like “moving on to perfection” or “growing in grace” or “the process of sanctification.” All I know for sure is that it’s “just enough” for God to still change me. I feel sometimes like I’m still walking down that aisle with Jesus.
The Spirit’s basic lesson plan is “death and resurrection.” There are themes of captivity and exodus, wandering and finding a home, exile and return, forgetting what is behind and pressing toward the goal, putting off and putting on, dead to sin and alive to righteousness, sin and grace, cross and tomb, being strangers and being made members of the household of faith.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You so very much for not changing me or my brothers and sisters here with some body snatching spirituality of instant overwhelming promises, packaged relief or honey-coated Cracker Jack savior. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit that changes us “just enough” from wintry waiting periods that can only be learned with a fever of 104. Thank You for Your faith, love and hope that come to us in the waiting for You, “so the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.” For the darkness shall turn to dawning, and the dawning to noonday bright; And Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth, The Kingdom of Love and Light. I wait for You and I hope that all of us here wait for You to rebirth this church and these people, in the precious name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.